Combat Resolution¶

Design Goal¶

Combat resolves automatically from the expedition snapshot. No positions, rotations, or real-time decisions after departure. Everything that determines combat outcome is decided before the expedition launches: what weapons and armor the character brings, how skilled they are with that equipment, and which monster family they are going up against.

The resolver is cheap and deterministic. It reads the frozen expedition snapshot, applies five steps, and produces a seeded outcome.

See combat-and-skills-integration.md for how skills and gear feed into quality bands. See combat-encounter-templates.md for concrete encounter examples built on this model.

Resolution Steps¶

Step 1 — Derive role from loadout¶

The resolver reads each party member's equipped weapons, armor, and gear and assigns a combat role:

Equipment brought	Role assigned
Shield + heavy armor	Tank
Healing supplies + medicine kit	Support
Bow + light armor	Ranged damage
Blade + light armor	Melee damage
Arcane focus + light gear	Arcane damage
Traps + tools + utility kit	Utility — flex support or damage

A character fills one role per expedition — whichever their loadout most strongly represents. Archetypes from character creation bias starting skills toward certain loadout types but place no restriction on what the character learns and equips later.

Step 2 — Compute quality band¶

For each role, quality band is derived from:

Skill level in the two or three skills most relevant to the equipped weapons and armor
Gear quality tier of those weapons and armor

Band	What it means
Weak	Familiar-range skills, starter or worn gear
Decent	Practiced skills, standard crafted or purchased gear
Strong	Skilled to Veteran skills, Fine-quality gear
Elite	Expert to Master skills, Masterwork gear

Step 3 — Check role coverage¶

Each encounter type requires a minimum role profile:

Encounter type	Required coverage
Standard solo or group	None — any loadout works
Elite	Damage + at least one support or tank
Boss	Tank + Damage + Support — all three

A missing required role applies −25% to the final success probability per missing slot, flooring at 5%. Some bosses mark a specific role as mandatory — those fights cannot resolve as a win without it regardless of how strong the rest of the party is.

Step 4 — Apply matchup modifier (damage roles only)¶

Damage loadouts carry a matchup modifier based on weapon type versus the monster family being fought. Tank and support are matchup-neutral — their job is survival and recovery, not damage output.

Damage loadout	Strong matchup	Poor matchup
Bow + light armor	Beasts, Goblinoids	Constructs, armored undead
Blade + light armor	Raiders and Brigands	Swarms, incorporeal undead
Blunt weapon + medium armor	Constructs, Skeletons	Fast beasts
Arcane focus	Undead, Constructs, warded targets	Beasts, open-field humanoids
Traps + tools	Vermin, Swarms	Boss fights, fast pursuit

Effect on effective quality band:

Strong matchup: bumped one step up (Decent acts as Strong)
Neutral matchup: unchanged
Poor matchup: dropped one step (Decent acts as Weak)

Step 5 — Compute success probability¶

Solo or standard group (no required roles):

Effective quality band	Success chance
Weak	35%
Decent	60%
Strong	80%
Elite	95%

Boss fight (tank + support + damage all present):

The weakest role in the party pulls the result down the most.

Weakest role	Other two roles	Success
Weak	any	25–40%
Decent	Decent / Decent	55%
Decent	Strong / Strong	65%
Strong	Strong / Strong	82%
Strong	Elite / Elite	88%
Elite	Elite / Elite	95%

Knowledge bonus: monster knowledge at Mastered adds up to +10% flat. Lower tiers add proportionally less.

Outcome Bands¶

The success probability feeds a seeded random roll. Results:

Roll result	Outcome
Clear success	Full rewards, no penalties
Marginal success	Rewards with minor injuries or supply burn
Partial failure	Retreat triggered, partial rewards, injury
Full failure	Routed, no rewards, heavier penalties

Bosses and elites apply heavier penalties on failure. Standard content uses the same bands with lighter failure costs.

Player-Facing Readiness Summary¶

Before departure the UI shows the party's readiness for the selected encounter:

Barrow Fields — Karnwarden (Undead) Tank: Strong ✓ Support: Decent ✓ Damage: Decent ⚠ (bow loadout — poor matchup vs. undead, effective: Weak) Estimated success: 38%

The player can change loadouts, recruit a different party member, or proceed knowing the risk.

Encounter Types¶

standard skirmish
ambush
wave defense
hunt pursuit
boss chamber
escort defense
environmental hazard with hostile pressure

Technical Model¶

Authoritative Records¶

Store:

expedition
expedition_member
expedition_supply_commitment
expedition_route_segment
encounter_seed
expedition_result_log

Deterministic Seed¶

At mission start, generate and store a seed. Use it to derive encounter order, rare event checks, and loot branches. This makes debugging, replay summaries, and dispute review much easier.

Group Commit Logic¶

For group expeditions, all members should lock before departure:

active build profile and loadout
supply contribution to the shared escrow
readiness state
share settings for rewards and costs

Once the expedition starts, replacements are not allowed unless the mission type explicitly supports reinforcements.

Durable Object Responsibility¶

Use one expedition coordinator for mutable expedition state while the run is active. That coordinator handles group joins before departure, readiness checks, and final settlement locks.

Resolution Timing¶

Do not simulate constantly while the player is away. Instead:

store projected segment end times
wake on completion alarm or player check-in
run the resolver in bounded batches
write append-only event results

Replay Summary¶

Players should receive a readable expedition report that lists:

route events
key combats by phase
injuries and recoveries
rare drops
map discoveries
reasons for failure if the mission went poorly

The report should explain the strongest reasons for the result, not dump every hidden modifier.

combat and skills integration
character progression and derived stats
monster family behaviors
supply consumption and hunger
knowledge and scouting
group contracts and shared rewards